Spimes and speculative design:sustainable product futures today

This paper unpacks Sterling’s concept of spimes and outlines how it can be developed as a lens through which to speculate and reflect upon more preferable and sustainable technological product futures. The term spimes denotes a class of near future, sustainable, manufactured objects, and unlike the disposable products that permeate our society today; a spime would be designed so that it can be managed sustainably throughout its entire lifecycle. This would have the goal of making the implicit consequences of product obsolescence and unsustainable disposal explicit to potential users. With the current rhetoric associated with the so-called Internet of Things promoting existing production and consumption models, the time is right to explore Sterling’s concept in greater depth. In doing so, this paper examines the meaning of the term spimes, distinguishes the concept from today’s Internet-connected products and posits design criteria for potential near future spime objects. The paper concludes with an initial evaluation of a speculative design fiction created by the author – the Toaster For Life – which seeks to embody several of the spime design criteria in order to facilitate audiences in considering the unsustainable people-product relationships which define present day behaviour, and also aid the author in reflecting upon the speculative design process itself

A Toaster for Life:using design fiction to facilitate discussion on the creation of a sustainable Internet Of Things

This paper presents a design fiction created by the author – the Toaster For Life. The design is an initial prototype that seeks to embody Sterling’s concept of spimes which when viewed simply, are a class of near future, sustainable, manufactured objects designed to make the implicit impacts of a technological product’s entire lifecycle more explicit to its potential users. This paper argues that when properly understood, spimes act as a rhetorical device that can be used as a lens through which designers can speculate and reflect upon sustainable technological product futures whilst also critiquing the unsustainable production and consumption practices that define our current lifestyles. To make this case, the paper contextualises the Toaster For Life in relation to the spimes concept, the unsustainability of Internet of Things products and sustainable design praxis; and reflects upon the design fiction methodology used to highlight the potential benefits of such an approach

Spimes:A Multidimensional Lens for Designing Future Sustainable Internet Connected Devices

There are numerous loud and powerful voices promoting the Internet of Things (IoT) as a catalyst for changing many aspects of our lives for the better. Healthcare, energy, transport, finance, entertainment and in the home – billions of everyday objects across all sorts of sectors are being connected to the Internet to generate data so that we can make quicker and more efficient decisions about many facets of our lives. But is this technological development completely benign? I argue that, despite all their positive potential, IoT devices are still being designed, manufactured and disposed of in the same manner that most other ‘non-connected’ consumer products have been for decades – unsustainably. Further, while much fanfare is made of the IoT’s potential utility for reducing energy usage through pervasive monitoring, little discourse recognises the intrinsically unsustainable nature of the IoT devices themselves. In response to this growing unsustainable product culture, my thesis centres on the role that sustainability can potentially play in the design of future IoT devices. I propose the recharacterisation of IoT devices as spimes in order to provide an alternative approach for facilitating sustainable Internet-connected product design practice. The concept of spimes was first introduced in 2004 by the futurist Bruce Sterling and then outlined further a year later in his book Shaping Things. When viewed simply, a spime would be a type of near future, internet-connected device which marries physical and digital elements with innate sustainable characteristics. Whereas the majority of sustainable design theory and practice has focused on the development of sustainable non-connected devices, a credible strategy for the design of environmentally friendly Internet-connected physical objects has yet to be put forward. In light of this, I argue that now is the right time to develop the spimes concept in greater depth so that it may begin to serve as a viable counterpoint to the increasing unsustainability of the IoT. To make this case, my thesis explores the following three key questions: • What are spimes? • Can we begin to design spimes? • What does spime-orientated research mean for unsustainable Internet-connected design practice? I outline how, in order to explore these important questions, I utilised a Research through Design approach to unpack and augment the notion of spimes through three Design Fiction case studies. Each case study concretises different key design criteria for spime devices, while also probing the broader implications that could arise as a result of adopting such spime designs in the near future. I discuss the significance of reflecting upon my Spime-based Design Fiction Practice and how this enabled me to develop the spimes concept into a multidimensional lens, which I contend, other designers can potentially harness as a means to reframe their IoT praxis with sustainability baked-in. The key aspects of my process and its outputs are also summarised in form of a design manifesto with the aim of inspiring prospective designers and technologists to create future sustainable Internet-connected devices

Spimes and speculative design: Sustainable product futures today

This paper unpacks Sterling’s concept of spimes and outlines how it can be developed as a lens through which to speculate and reflect upon the future of more preferable and sustainable technological products. The term spimes denotes a class of near future, sustainable, manufactured objects, and unlike the disposable products, which permeate our society today, a spime would be designed so that it can be managed sustainably throughout its entire lifecycle. This would have the goal of making the implicit consequences of product obsolescence and unsustainable disposal explicit to potential users. With the current rhetoric associated with the so-called Internet of Things promoting existing production and consumption models, the time is right to explore Sterling’s concept in greater depth. In doing so, this paper examines the meaning of the term spimes, distinguishes the concept from today’s Internet-connected products and posits design criteria for potential near future spime objects. The paper concludes with an initial evaluation of a speculative design fiction created by the author – the Toaster for Life – which seeks to embody several of the spime design criteria in order to facilitate audiences in considering the unsustainable people-product relationships which define present day behaviour, and also aid the author in reflecting upon the design fiction process itself.Keywords: spimes, sustainable product design, internet of things, speculative design, design fiction

HealthBand:campaigning for an open and ethical Internet of Things through an applied process of design fiction

This paper discusses the creation of a design fiction that seeks to embody Sterling’s (2005) spimes concept – near future, Internet-connected, manufactured objects. HealthBand is a fictional open-source wearable device born in a future where public healthcare has become increasingly privatised. Social equity and citizen empowerment sit at the forefront of its design – the product is the culmination of crowd-sourced expertise and production capital. We contextualise the fictional device in relation to current proprietary Internet of Things products, democratised and open technological practices like the Maker Movement, and two previously identified design criteria for spimes – synchronicity and wrangling. We assert that the fiction can help to begin to establish spimes as a useful rhetorical lens through which product designers can speculate upon more socially responsible and ethical technological product futures that offer plausible alternatives to the homogenised, unsustainable and profit driven product design cultures of today

HealthBand:campaigning for an open and ethical Internet of Things through an applied process of design fiction

This paper discusses the creation of a design fiction that seeks to embody Sterling’s (2005) spimes concept – near future, Internet-connected, manufactured objects. HealthBand is a fictional open-source wearable device born in a future where public healthcare has become increasingly privatised. Social equity and citizen empowerment sit at the forefront of its design – the product is the culmination of crowd-sourced expertise and production capital. We contextualise the fictional device in relation to current proprietary Internet of Things products, democratised and open technological practices like the Maker Movement, and two previously identified design criteria for spimes – synchronicity and wrangling. We assert that the fiction can help to begin to establish spimes as a useful rhetorical lens through which product designers can speculate upon more socially responsible and ethical technological product futures that offer plausible alternatives to the homogenised, unsustainable and profit driven product design cultures of today

Old, Sick And No Health Insurance:Will You Need A Permit To Use Your Homemade Health Wearable?

We posit that as aging populations grow, so too will the demand for wearable devices that help people manage their chronic health conditions autonomously, at home, without medical supervision. Although healthcare providers are now integrating wearables into frontline services, the regulatory journey from consumer use to patient use for these devices is complex and oft protracted due to strict legislation. Through the creation of a design fiction – HealthBand - we explore how open source and crowd-funded wearables might impact future health product legislation. We argue that the generated artefacts co-construct a world in which HealthBand could plausibly exist, and in turn can help audiences engage more explicitly with the fiction’s broader debates. Further, if future health wearables are to be adopted, HCI and design researchers must not focus solely on creating prototypes but also engage with regulatory change. We assert design fictions that build worlds like HealthBand have a role in highlighting the changes required

Emerging technologies for learning (volume 1)

Collection of 5 articles on emerging technologies and trend

Old, Sick And No Health Insurance:Will You Need A Permit To Use Your Homemade Health Wearable?

We posit that as aging populations grow, so too will the demand for wearable devices that help people manage their chronic health conditions autonomously, at home, without medical supervision. Although healthcare providers are now integrating wearables into frontline services, the regulatory journey from consumer use to patient use for these devices is complex and oft protracted due to strict legislation. Through the creation of a design fiction – HealthBand - we explore how open source and crowd-funded wearables might impact future health product legislation. We argue that the generated artefacts co-construct a world in which HealthBand could plausibly exist, and in turn can help audiences engage more explicitly with the fiction’s broader debates. Further, if future health wearables are to be adopted, HCI and design researchers must not focus solely on creating prototypes but also engage with regulatory change. We assert design fictions that build worlds like HealthBand have a role in highlighting the changes required

Student Navigation Through Computer-Based Simulations: What Predicts Success?

Clinical simulations, in a variety of forms, is a viable educational tool, allowing CSD students to acquire professional competencies and skills. Simucase is a computer-based simulation program designed for this objective. The goal of this study was to determine what elements of simulation engagement predicted success on a student\u27s overall ability to make the correct recommendation for patient care, and what those predictors can tell us about how students navigate computer-based simulations. The data set used for this study comprised 149 graduate students in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) programs who completed a computer-based assessment simulation for a patient with aphasia. To determine which areas of the simulation predicted student success, a logistic regression was performed to determine which of the 12 types of decision points offered predictive data for making the correct final recommendation. The 12 types of decisions used comprised case history, collaborator, assessment, and diagnosis sections with reflective, acceptable, and rejected options in each. Results indicate that student patterns of case engagement can predict overall case success. The overall model was significant and individual predictors were significantly responsible for predicting which students would choose the correct outcome at the end of the case. This study revealed that students who engage in more careful navigation of preliminary assessment steps such as case history and collaborators were more likely to reach the correct recommendation at the end of the case. This finding has implications for the implementation of computer-based simulations for clinical education